A Cell Phone Story

Updated on September 16, 2016

Once upon a time in a land not so long ago, a young woman mused as to why college kids were so addicted to their cell phones. One day she was at work in the college library shelving books as usual, when she spotted a fellow student making photocopies. There was nothing unusual about this, but the fact this girl was carrying on a loud and long cell phone conversation about how she had to make twenty photocopies was sort of amusing. The young woman could not figure out why this girl could not wait until she got outside the library to use that cell phone, and luckily today most libraries have rules against this behavior. I know, I know, you think she is harsh to critique people and their cell phone usage, but why would you want to have a personal conversation in a close confined area where people can hear? This was the year 1999 and at that time the young woman could not even imagine owning a cell phone because she had a phone at home and a calling card. The young woman also loved the Internet, but she only used it for fun and research on the school computers. Back in those days, she typed out her papers on a Brother word processor that had a tiny little screen that only showed three or four lines of text. This was a step up from having to use the campus computer and running out of the guzzle down a soda and inhale a candy bar in order to just stay awake. Thus, she decided to buy her first word processor ever, and she was now able to type and print papers at home, which was a true technological step up.

Three years before that in the year 1996 the young woman had been typing out her papers on an old-fashioned manual typewriter, so technology was making leaps and bounds in her life. However, in the year 1999, she was very skeptical about cell phones and could never see herself owning one. Ironically three years later she would be a cell phone toting gal who upgrading her phone almost every year for a newer and better model. This technological evolution in the life of a young woman took place over time and each cell phone has a special story.

Cell phones have good and bad points. In a weak moment you may call your significant other to ask why he/she is giving you the cold shoulder, or send a "nonchalant" text saying "hi". Unfortunately, back in the days of LAN lines this was not a probl

Romance, The First Cell Phone, AT&T And The Nokia Cell Phone

Sweetiepie went on a blind date with a cute guy that was stationed in the Navy in Hawaii. Sweetiepie has always had a thing for guys in uniform and she loves Hawaiian scenery, culture and history, so this attraction was inevitable. Perhaps she was more intrigued by his descriptions of island life than his obsession with everquest games, but love is blind you know. Thus she was very intrigued Mr. USS Hawaii, but today she views this infatuation as being based on an illusion she wanted to create.

Mr. USS Hawaii and Sweetiepie began to instant message on American Online back in the days when many people were still using dial-up modems. Of course Mr. USS Hawaii was very technology savvy and had three computers he built himself along with a cable modem, but he used the AOL messenger to IM. He introduced her to more computer technology, but he also introduced her to the novelty of cell phones. One day Mr. USS Hawaii called Sweetiepie on his new flip cell phone, but in 2002 these were still somewhat of a novelty. I know it sounds cheesy now, but at the time Sweetiepie thought a flip phone would be a fun new gadget, so she investigated purchasing a phone of her own.

Unfortunately Sweetiepie lived in an isolated town where there were not a large variety of cell phone dealers, so she went to Walmart where AT&T had a small cell phone kiosk. She signed up for her first Nokia cell phone which was basically just a compact sized block. It was not a fun flip phone like Mr. USS Hawaii owned, but it was nice because you could put faceplates to change the style. Sweetiepie decided to get a fuchasia faceplate for her new nokia phone because it looked more exciting than the plan black one that came with it.

At first Sweetiepie got a thrill out of texting with Mr. USS Hawaii. The pair talked so extensively for two weeks, and the he invited her to come see him in Hawaii, which she jumped at because she had always wanted to see the islands. Sweetiepie loved the idea of having a built in tour guide when most people would have to go on one of this depersonalized packaged tours. At the time she felt very attracted to USS Hawaii, but it may have just been because he lived in an enviable location. When they talked on the phone it was always kind of brief, unless the conversation was about his everquest games. Sweetiepie has never been much of a gamer and really does not enjoy video games, so she was at a loss when Mr. USS Hawaii talked about building worlds and playing in them. She tried to feign interest because she thought it would make him feel good for her to listen, but one can only pretend to like a boring activity for so long. This does not mean gaming is boring, but forcing people to do something they do not like and talk about it becomes tedious. Do most of you like to go to the dentist and get your teeth drilled? Sweetiepie would rather have her teeth drilled than play a video game, it is just how she feels.

Whenever Sweetiepie tried to talk about books and movies she liked Mr. USS Hawaii seemed really bored and did not say much. Sweetiepie now had a cell phone, so she would use this communication device to ask her girl friends about his puzzling behavior. Sometimes she would call her friend when she got to work early, which may have been a fun thing to do because instantous communication was still very new. Today Sweetiepie would certainly not bother her friends with such issues, at least not before work.

Friends were concerned about lack of common interests the two shared, but advised her to still go to Hawaii because she wanted to see the islands, and perhaps they would be more compatible once they met in person again. After all they had a very enjoyable first date, so it was advisable not to give up on him that easily. Plus he looked really cute in the picture where he was posing in his uniform, and there is just something sort of hot about that.

Sweetiepie bought a ticket and flew out of LAX and enjoyed the flight across the Pacific Ocean. She was going to her favorite place, Hawaii, so even if Mr. USS Hawaii was not a match, at least they could be friends and get to know each other. Mr. USS Hawaii picked Sweetiepie up at the airport and said he had borrowed a friend's car because he had a trunk for transporting suitcases, and he decided they both needed to return the car so he could retrieve his own. When they arrived at the friend's house Mr. USS Hawaii acted embarrassed for Sweetiepie to be there and did not even make an attempt at introductions. After a few awkward minutes Sweetiepie took the iniative of saying hello, but the Mr. USS Hawaii's friend acted more interested in the virtual land on the everquest game. Sweetiepie felt odd because this was the first time people had ever acted this way about simple introductions, which really do not take that much time away from computer games.

Eventually Mr. USS Hawaii decided to take Sweetiepie out to dinner, but she still felt weird about this first encounter. Later that night Mr. USS Hawaii remembered he had forgot his CD in the friend's car, so they drove all the way back to his house to retrieve it. Sweetiepie was asked to wait in the parking lot while Mr Hawaii ran up to get the CD, which just seemed very curt. She later asked if he was ashamed for her to meet his friends, which he denied. Sweetiepie felt very uneasy about that, but tried to put this at the back of her mind.

The rest of the week in Hawaii was very relaxing and they visited all the tourists sites such as The Dole Plantation, Paradise Cove, The Pearl Harbor Memorial, and went shopping in what Mr. USS Hawaii referred to as the tourist traps. Sweetiepie was very interested in Pearl Harbor because both of her grandfathers had served in Hawaii during World War II, so she felt a connection to some degree. Yes it is touristy, but Sweetiepie also was inquisitive and would ask local Hawaiian people questions and people were very kind. Sometimes Mr. USS Hawaii would make rude comments about how he hated living in Hawaii and did not like the Hawaiian attitude, but Sweetiepie felt the opposite. The Hawaiian people always seemed very friendly, and sometimes she felt maybe Mr. USS Hawaii liked to complain a little too much. The romance of Hawaii clouded her mind and she thought they might be in love, but on her last day there his true colors seeped through a little.

Sweetiepie accidentaly dropped her block nokia cell phone and the battery fell off the back of it, and Mr. USS Hawaii chided her for not buying a more expensive flip phone like him. It seemed Mr. USS Hawaii always had better sense when it came to buying gadgets and Sweetiepie was not as savvy as him. Of course that is true because she did not have several hundred dollars to spend on a cute flip phone, but she would have liked one if she could have afforded one. Also she was not interested in everquest, so maybe she was just not as fun as Mr. USS Hawaii. Did she chide him for not wanting to go to Polynesian Cultural Center? Sweetiepie had kept those thoughts to herself, but he was very blunt about her lack of entertaining hobbies.

Once Sweetiepie got back to the mainland she still received text messages from Mr. USS Hawaii, but as time went by these dwindled until it stopped. She made the mistake of asking him if he was serious about her, and he got very upset about it. He had always been kind of a private person and could spend a week building on his days off from work without calling anyone, but Sweetiepie fell for the old mistake of calling and texting him about his behavior. It would take a couple more relationships before Sweetiepie to break the pattern, but it was a hard lesson to learn. When she looked at her first cell phone it had many good and bad memories attached to her first boyfriend, so she decided to switch providers and get a fresh start with a new phone that had better service coverage.

The Sony Ericsson Phone And Verizon Wireless

In 2003 Sweetiepie made fresh start by getting getting a Sony Ericsson phone that had better coverage with Verizon Wireless. On certain parts of the mountain AT&T would not even get a signal, but her new phone was great because Verizon never seemed to drop her calls. There is nothing wrong with AT&T, but Sweetiepie just happened to love the better coverage of Verizon. Also, Sweetiepie got more minutes with her new plan, which gave her more time to talk to her friends.

Sadly old patterns die hard and Sweetiepie did beg to see Mr. USS Hawaii once he got out of the Navy and was living with his parents again in SoCal, but he was not very nice to her. Why did he agree to see her at all if all he was going to make disaparaging remarks to her on a double date they went on with friends? The whole Valentine's Day double date was his idea, but later he acted begruding of her having accepted. Mr. USS Hawaii had pretty much stopped calling Sweetiepie for months, but because she was sad about it and told her friend, her friend's husband in turn told him because they were friends. Sweetiepie felt so silly thinking back on her desperate behavior over a man ignoring her and not wanting to talk to her, and when it got down to it they just did not have much in common anyway. On top of it all he got mad she had changed her number because when he finally wanted to talk to her she no longer had the same number. This one simply liked the thrill of the chase, but that is not the kind of relationship Sweetiepie wanted when she truly though about it. One lesson Sweetiepie learned from this and her first cell phone was never to talk to your friends about men who give you the cold shoulder. Cell phones can be a tortorous devices when it come to communication with a significant other, but they can also be great too.

The LG Camera Phone Was A Novelty!

After awhile Sweetiepie got over Mr. USS Hawaii and simply used her
cell phone for talking to friends. She had loved her Sony Ericsson phone, but
one time in 2004 when her grandparents were visiting the accidentally took her phone home. Sweetiepie then decided
to get a basic LG flip phone that was very cute, but which had horrible reception for the mountains. The phone was basic and did
not have a camera, but a year later her free credit kicked in and she finally got one with a camera.
Having a camera phone was a big thing in 2005, so she was very excited
to finally have one and share pictures with friends on the spur of the
moment. Cell phones were also a novel way to exchange pictures with new crushes from the Internet. Sweetiepie enjoyed being able to send funny pictures to friends when on the go, so have in a camera phone was a fun and handy thing.

The RAZR Phone: Sleek And Stylish

in 2006 Sweetiepie finally bought the RAZR 3VM she had been craving because she loved how sleekness. She choose the pink model, and this phone served her well for two years. The wonderful thing about having a Verizon Wireless cell phone plan is you are given a free credit to upgrade your phone every two years, but often the credit comes in before two years time. Sweetiepie always gave her old cell phones to charity or to her sister and mom, so her old phones always went to good use. Even her first Nokia was used by one of her sisters that could not afford a calling plan for awhile, but after the battery died they bought a new phone with Verizon and this phone was recycled. Never throw your cell phones away and remember there are ways to recycle unwanted phones.

One of the bonuses to the RAZR its compactness, which makes it easy fit into the tight confines of an already overstuffed purse. One draw back to the RAZR phone was it was very awkward to hold during calls, and I accidentally dropped it a couple times as I was walking and talking. Apparently I am far more lucky than a friend who dropped his RAZR phone and it did not work after that. This is a beautiful and sleek phone, but in my personal experience it was much easier to use when sitting down.

The LG Env2 Has Nice Big Buttons!

I love the big buttons on the LG Env2

The LG Env2 Is The Best Phone To Date!

As much as
Sweetiepie loved the the RAZR this past August she upgraded to the LG
Env2 and has never looked back. One thing Sweetiepie never liked was
pecking out text messages like a chicken, but with the LG Env2 it flips
open to a mini keyboard with a mini screen, which allows you to type
as if you are on a computer. Also, the mini speakers on each side of the screen make listening to music on the phone enjoyable, especially for those of us who hate to stick earpieces in our ears. Sweetiepie tries to stay within the limits
of her texting plan because she is a cheapo gleapo, but it is much
harder with this new and fun to use key board. All cell phones have a
story and it is interesting to ponder where the they have traveled and what they have seen. If only our cell phones could talk
what stories they would tell.

Comments 4 comments

I wrote this in about thirty minutes. When I am on a roll I just like to keep writing.

Lissie 8 years ago from New Zealand

Love the hub! I think I got my first phone around the same time: it didn't text I remember that - I upgraded to flip style (star trek you know) about 4 years ago which does text but doesn't internationally roam. So now I have a 3rd phone which works in Australia - I can't say I see any point in having a camera on it - I own a reasonable digital camera. At the end of the day I much prefer to email - texting is so slow and calling is still expensive in my part of the world - well not free any way which is what I expect to pay for a local call LOL

SweetiePie 8 years ago from Southern California, USA Author

Thanks for stopping by and reading Lissie. I prefer the digital camera I have over the one on my phone, but here we get a free camera with our upgrade, so I just take the phone that come with it. I did not even text until recently, but I have done it more now than recently because my phone flips open to a little mini keyboard, which means it is still a novelty. I only send a few a month as I have to pay ten cents per text above 250 sent and received. I have a cell phone family plan which means we get 700 anytime minutes that we can use to call anywhere in the US for free, as long as we remain under that time limit. After nine at night and on the weekends we can talk all we want without watching the clock. We also have a cable phone because my sister likes having a phone at home, and this phone allows us to make free phone calls to the USA and Canada.

It is interesting to hear how texting is expensive there and I like hearing about cell phone usage in other countries. I hear Europeans and Asians have better phones and better service than here in America, so I would be curious if any of them stop by and share.